Most of the players that made up the two squads (REDA Black and REDA Red) will go on to play basketball at the next level, said head coach Tarry Upshaw, who began the REDA Academy four years ago.

"This year on these two teams, 17 kids will go CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport), four will go Division 1 (in the U.S.). So we're 100% right now. Everyone that comes to us, goes on to play post-secondary basketball."

All players from REDA attend Orangeville District High School, and are members of Upshaw's academy.

Team Black jumped out to an early lead during the championship game, led by Connor Wood.

Wood, a 6-foot-4 guard, put up 14 points for team Black and was a standout at both ends of the hardwood.

"Connor's a great kid. He's been in my program the longest, for three years," Upshaw said.

"He ended up being a provincial team kid and now he's one of the most highly recruited kids in the country at his position. He's got several Division 1 offers and he's got a ton of CIS opportunities. He's a strong student, he can go anywhere he wants to go."

Wood helped pace Black to the title win. His determination and athletic play during the Vetrie Memorial earned him tournament MVP honours.

First quarter play started out slow with both teams appearing a little cautious. Black had the edge 16-9 after the first frame.

There wasn't much fire early on in the game as players looked like they were going up against their friends, rather than fighting foes for a gold medal.

However, the teens picked up the pace when their competitive nature surfaced in a second quarter that was marked by quick end-to-end rushes, and heavy bumping punctuated by impressive pass plays and slam dunks.

The aggressive play continued throughout the game, but team Red could not stage a comeback once it fell behind.

Black was up 31-21 by the half and took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter (56-39), then held on to cruise to victory.

Wood agreed the players on both teams started the game a little tentative.

"Once it started to get rough though, that's when we started to say, 'Alright, who's the best of REDA, who's the best team.' That's when we started to play hard."

Tournament chair, Jeff Giovanatti, said REDA's elite players helped make the title game entertaining for local enthusiasts.

"It's definitely not something you see every day. Even if you go to a college game locally, you're not going to see that type of high flying and athleticism," Giovanatti said.

"It's pretty special to have something like that in our own back yard."

The Sault's Aiden Chard, from St. Mary's College, received the 2012 Guy Vetrie award, which is handed out to the top local player in the tournament that best exemplifies Vetrie's attributes.

Chard was also the only local player to be named an all-star. He was selected as a second-team all-star at the tourney.

"To win something that was named after such a great person and player it's a huge deal. I'm very honoured," Chard said Saturday night.

Chard averaged 25.4 points in five games at the tournament to lead the Knights to the consolation final, where they lost 78-49 to North Carolina's Mount Zion Mighty Warriors. The Warriors won the bonze medal at the Vetrie last year.

Chard was on top this year in the senior boys city high school league in scoring this season by averaging more than 18 points per game.

"Aiden's the horsepower behind St. Mary's. He's a difficult kid to defend in our league," said Giovanatti, who coaches Korah's senior boys.

Chard's performance at the Vetrie proves he can play with elite players, Giovanatti added.

"He put up the points not just against local high schools, but he was able to maintain that against elite prep schools and top high school programs in the province . He's definitely CIS material."